Paul McCartney’s long road might be winding through Wrigley Field this summer.

A source in local event production tells the Sun-Times the Cubs are angling for two concerts by the former Beatle at Wrigley Field, possibly July 31 and Aug. 1.

Neither the Cubs nor McCartney’s public relations agency would confirm the dates.

“We’ve heard those dates, as well,” said Bennett Lawson of Ald. Tom Tunney’s (44th) office. “We can’t confirm it. The Cubs haven’t come to us with a performer or specific dates. We know they would like to do something this summer.”

The Cubs are out of town July 26-Aug. 4.

“The schedule is tighter for them [this year] than in previous years,” Lawson said. “They need a certain time for set up and take down and it has to be June, July or August. We still need City Council approval, which can happen quickly.”

Thus far, the only 2011 McCartney concert officially announced is a June 10 stop at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

McCartney is currently on tour in South America, completing another leg of his Up and Coming world tour that began last year. Many concerts on that tour have been announced piecemeal, and not always very far in advance.

After launching concerts in the historic North Side ballpark with a Jimmy Buffett show in 2005, the Cubs agreed to schedule shows at Wrigley every other year. However, after the Police played Wrigley in 2007, programming increased with two concerts in 2009 (Elton John and Billy Joel, and Rascal Flatts) and one late last summer (the Dave Matthews Band, Sept. 17-18).

McCartney was expected to be a Wrigley performer last year. The Dave Matthews dates took place after an encore Elton John & Billy Joel tour collapsed in the planning stages.

McCartney was last in Chicago playing two shows, Oct. 18-19, 2005, at the United Center.

The concert would be McCartney’s first stop in a Chicago baseball stadium since Aug, 20, 1965, when the Beatles played on a plywood stage set up in front of the center field scoreboard at Comiskey Park.

That stop was part of a two week tour that included gigs at the now-razed baseball stadiums Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio, Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and Candlestick Park in San Francisco. A year later the Beatles appeared together for the last time at Candlestick, now the home of the San Francisco 49ers football team.

Paul McCartney’s “band on the run” hasn’t yet confirmed plans to perform this summer at Wrigley Field, but the Cubs are nailing down the dates.

At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) introduced an ordinance — at the Cubs’ request — that would authorize concerts at Wrigley Field on July 31 and Aug. 1.

Sources said the Cubs are finalizing negotiations with McCartney for back-to-back nighttime concerts on those dates.

Since legislation is normally introduced at one City Council meeting and approved at the next, the timing is key. If the ordinance wasn’t introduced Wednesday, it would be tough to approve in time.

Since 2005, the 97-year-old Wrigley Field has hosted concerts by Jimmy Buffett, the Police, the Dave Matthews Band, Rascal Flatts and Elton John and Billy Joel.

The Cubs agreed to take a year off in 2006 to ease the strain of the concerts on neighborhood residents. They also agreed to forfeit one of their 30 annual night games.

But no such concessions are planned this year, according to Mike Lufrano, the Cubs’ general counsel and executive vice president of community affairs.

“We’ve proven through the shows that we’ve done that this is something the neighborhood appreciates,” Lufrano said Wednesday. “We will add neighborhood protections, including additional security after the shows. ...

“We do special neighborhood pre-sales of tickets that typically sell out pretty quickly. The Dave Matthews Band alone generated more than $800,000 in taxes for the city, and it was a tremendous help for local businesses. So we think what was once an experiment has proven very successful.”

Tunney said he agreed to introduce the ordinance as a “placeholder” in the likely event that negotiations with McCartney are finalized.

The alderman agreed that Wrigley concerts have been an “economic benefit to the city and the neighborhood,” that the level of talent has been “top-notch” and that no added concessions are necessary.

“The concerts have been successful because they’ve been controlled by ordinance specific to each one and additional neighborhood protection go with that ordinance,” Tunney said. “As far as forfeiting night games, it depends on how often there are concerts. If they’re one, two or three days, I’m supportive [without] a reduction in the number of night games.”

The prospect of McCartney concerts on those dates was disclosed by the Chicago Sun-Times last month.

The motivation for the concert series: It would provide the Cubs with money that wouldn’t fall under Major League Baseball’s revenue-sharing umbrella. For every dollar the Cubs make on game days, 34 cents must be shared with other teams. The Cubs get to keep every dollar they make off concerts.

Tunney also introduced a companion ordinance authorizing rooftop clubs that have taken a financial beating during this dismal Cubs season to open for business during the concert dates.

For those of you who belong to the Official Paul McCartney Fan Club, keep alert for an announcement/email that will tell you when tix will be available for members before they go on sale to the general public: http://www.paulmccartney.com/tickets/

Hello, Beatle peadles! We got tix for both nights! Sitting on the pitch with a great view of the middle of stage for the 8/1 show! This will be my 5th and 6th times seeing him! Be fab! Peace and love! ☮